Without question, the Thunder King was a marvel — and Wei Ji hoped that w.a.n.g Hui could reproduce this miraculous achievement of the Thunder King. That way, a few years later, when the Thunder King graduated and left the military academy, it would be the time for their Wuji Mecha Clan to rise to the top.

Learning of w.a.n.g Hui's combat level, Zhao Jun's eyes flashed brightly. "Not bad, with the addition of these two talents, Wuji's future is boundless!"

Zhao Jun's words made Han Yu and Wei Ji laugh, pleased. In contrast to the shrewd and unfathomable Li Lanfeng, Zhao Jun, who only knew to fight, was much simpler — his words would never twist and turn; what was said was what he meant.

Having said that, Zhao Jun clapped w.a.n.g Hui on the shoulder approvingly, then walked over to sit down beside Li Lanfeng.

This move of Zhao Jun's made Han Yu and Wei Ji frown, a trace of frustrated regret in their eyes. Back then, they should not have tried some petty tricks in order to keep Zhao Jun in check through fear, thus enraging him, giving Li Lanfeng the chance to become the mediator between the two sides. From there, Li Lanfeng had gained Zhao Jun's friends.h.i.+p, resulting in their current close relations.h.i.+p. If Zhou Ya really succeeded in replacing Li Lanfeng, they might still be unable to chase away Li Lanfeng too obviously, to force him to resign from his post within the clan ...

Over these past few years of cooperation, they had come to learn that Zhao Jun was a very loyal and steadfast person, definitely someone who would sacrifice his life for a friend. If Zhao Jun became discontented with them over Li Lanfeng, he might choose to leave the Wuji Mecha Clan in a fit of rage to follow Li Lanfeng, and that would be a major loss for them.

Zhao Jun was a genius at mecha piloting, strong enough to squeeze into the top three of their year. Excluding Li Lanfeng's strategic planning, Zhao Jun was integral to the Wuji Mecha Clan's secure third-place ranking. If the two of them went off to join another faction because of this, it would very likely affect the position of their Wuji Mecha Clan among the school factions ...

Han Yu's and Wei Ji's eyes met, sharing a glance, conveying their tacit decision to temporarily set their plan aside and continue tolerating Li Lanfeng a while longer. Zhou Ya and w.a.n.g Hui still needed some time to grow anyway; their mecha clan indeed still needed Li Lanfeng's strategic mind.

Of course, they decided mentally that they would find a chance to drive a wedge between Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun in the interim — once the two became at odds, it would be time for them to banish Li Lanfeng.

So decided, the two began conversing enthusiastically with Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun. Not long after, a dark wall within the box suddenly lit up — it turned out that this was a high-tech screen, and it was currently set up for direct viewing without any segmentations. Of course, it was also possible to choose to dissect the screen into several windows for multiple viewing angles. Right then, on the arena stage dominating the screen, several youths in blue uniforms suddenly appeared. Their expressions were composed and proud; it was the delegation from the Leiting Mecha Clan. With that, the four of them in the box stopped their conversation, turning their eyes to the large screen.

In the dark box, facing the screen, no one saw Li Lanfeng's smile turn mocking from its initial warmth, and his clear gaze became deep and dark. The current Li Lanfeng was no longer at all kind and approachable, instead emitting a cold edge.

The moment the Leiting people got on the stage, they received the pa.s.sionate cheers of all the students in the audience of the combat hall. The Federation had always championed the rule of survival of the fittest, and this was displayed most vividly within the military academy. The Leiting Mecha Clan was the strongest faction in the military academy, and so obtained the acknowledgement and respect of the majority of the cadets.

At this moment, the other boxes on the second floor were gradually being claimed by their respective owners. Practically all the people in the boxes took the cheers coming from the combat hall below as a matter of fact, absolutely certain that the final victors would be Leiting. Only in one particular corner of one of the boxes was there someone worrying about the fate of the

New Cadet Regiment

1

.

"F*ck, the whole hall is cheering for Leiting. No one thinks the New Cadet Regiment will win. Honestly speaking, I don't think the New Cadet Regiment has any hope of winning either. I say, has your younger cousin brother's head been shot at before? Actually daring to accept Leiting's letter of challenge?" In that box, a baby-faced youth in a blue uniform abruptly smacked his hands onto the arms of his sofa, his entire expression a mask of rage at the perceived incompetence.

Standing before the screen, a person in a white uniform was standing tall with his back to the baby-faced youth. He cut a das.h.i.+ng figure, and with a hand on the frame of the screen, he replied without even turning back, "It's fine since he has already accepted. At least I'll be able to see how much this younger cousin brother of mine who has always been aiming for the first inheritance rights has grown."

"Just for that reason? That's why you actually emerged from your laboratory to come see this compet.i.tion that he is destined to lose?" The baby-faced youth's face was filled with incredulity.

He knew his sworn brother — ever since they had entered the First Men's Military Academy, and he had chosen to specialize in military medical research, it was like he had been possessed by a demon. Day and night, he was always at the laboratory with his instructors researching the various strange and bizarre diagnostic and treatment questions known to the Federation at present. Perhaps he truly had talent in this respect, for he actually managed to successfully produce several treatment procedures in the course of his research, which after practical real-world testing, were discovered to be extremely effective. As a result of his exceptional performance on these course problems, from the start of the second year, he had successfully become the dux of the military medical research specialization. Since then, the position of dux had seemed reserved for him alone, never to budge.

The baby-faced youth had always believed that if the Thunder King was a peerless prodigy in mecha piloting, then his good friend, Li s.h.i.+yu, was certainly a horrifyingly aberrant existence in the medical field. The two dominated over the ma.s.ses in their respective domains, becoming the indisputable number ones of their fields.

"Lose?" Li s.h.i.+yu muttered to himself. At this moment, five more figures appeared on the arena stage, dressed in the average cadet's green uniform. It was the five representatives of the New Cadet Regiment here to partic.i.p.ate in the physical skills combat showdown.

Through the screen, Li s.h.i.+yu stared at the c.o.c.ky punk who was standing with his arms crossed on the stage. His initially handsome face instantly became dark and foreboding, as he bit out word by word, "If that punk loses, I will make him pay the price." The latent energy spurring gene agent S-modification that he had just developed recently — didn't it just happen to be lacking some human experimental candidates? Perhaps Li Yingjie would be a suitable experiment subject.

At this moment, Li Yingjie, who had his chin lifted up defiantly, suddenly felt a chill pa.s.s through his body. He could not help but s.h.i.+ver, causing Luo Lang beside him to glance at him disapprovingly, "You're afraid now?"

Li Yingjie glared at Luo Lang, and shot back, "Who's afraid? There was just a gust of cold wind earlier ..."

Cold wind? Luo Lang looked around at this fully enclosed combat hall with not a single gap for air flow — the temperature forever maintained at 20 degrees by the thermostat. In this place where not a trace of wind could be created ... a cold wind? Who was he trying to fool?

Luo Lang sniffed and rolled his eyes, no longer paying any mind to the cowardly Li Yingjie beside him. He had originally thought that the always c.o.c.ky Li Yingjie did not know what fear was, but the other was unexpectedly just a tiger in a cave — only c.o.c.ksure and domineering in its own den.

Luo Lang's sniff clearly revealed his true opinion, which caused Li Yingjie's complexion to flush and pale erratically. He wished dearly that he could grab hold of the other's collar and yell in his face:

What the h.e.l.l are you sniffing for?! Everything this bro has said is the truth! There really had been a blast of cold wind, or else why would this bro s.h.i.+ver?

Unfortunately, reality did not permit Li Yingjie to do so. He could only suppress the urge to right this misunderstanding and put aside his shame for now. In his heart, he decided that he must obtain victory in the fighting ring — he would use reality to tell Luo Lang that he, Li Yingjie, had never been afraid of the opponent before.

These things that happened on the stage could not be observed clearly by the spectating students. All they could see was a pretty youth and a prideful youth bending their heads close to exchange a few words, and then move apart again to stand still, patiently waiting for the referee the school administration had a.s.signed to appear.

The military academy permitted wagering on fights, whether official or personal. The only difference was that, official fight wagers would be officiated over by the academy's referee, while personal fight wagers would not involve the academy in any way.

Still, both types of wagering had one restriction — no deaths could be incurred. If an incident of death occurred, the academy would dispatch a team to investigate. And if the offending side was discovered to have killed with intent, the student or organisation which had intentionally caused the death would be mercilessly court-martialled and tried under the full force of the law. The most severe punishment possible naturally being the death penalty.

Thus, even if there was discord or conflict among the cadets which was carried over into their wagers, the wagers would typically not result in any deaths. Of course, cases where the perpetrator intended to die along with their victim were not included in this.

The fight wager between the two factions, Leiting and the New Cadet Regiment, was an official fight wager, which was why a referee from the academy would be present. This official wager was the result of agreement on both sides, because both sides were afraid that the other party would go back on their word.

Mind you, the results of an official fight wager were guaranteed by the academy. The moment the results were out, the wager would have to be fulfilled. Even if one party regretted the wager after the fact and wanted to renege on it, the other party could request for the school administration to step in and forcefully carry out the terms of the wager. Leiting was determined to obtain the New Cadet Regiment. In order to ensure nothing went wrong, they would certainly choose an official fight wager. Meanwhile, the New Cadet Regiment had similar concerns, so, without any objection, the wager this time naturally became an official fight wager.

"s.h.i.+yu, look. That youth by your younger cousin brother's side is so pretty, just like a girl. Is he partic.i.p.ating as well?" The baby-faced youth seemed exasperated at the sheer incompetence on display, "Heavens, does the New Cadet Regiment not have anyone else?

Actually sending out such a delicate youth to fight ... how could they bear to do so

2

?"

Right then, Li s.h.i.+yu too laid eyes on Luo Lang's appearance, and he was instantly stunned. Another face floated into his mind's eye — different, yet equally beautiful — no, that other face was even lovelier than the face of this youth before him, so beautiful that it almost felt as if it should not appear in the human world ...

Li s.h.i.+yu's heart abruptly spasmed violently — was this the reason why the heavens was unwilling to give his eldest cousin brother a healthy body? Because he did not belong to this common world to begin with, and needed to be reclaimed?

No, I will not allow it! Even if I have to fight against the heavens, I will keep Brother Mulan here!

Li s.h.i.+yu gripped the frame of the screen tightly, his fingers locked around it, savouring the pain travelling up through his fingers. It was as if this was the only way to soothe the wrenching pain in his heart. It was precisely due to this unbearable pain that he had chosen a different path without any regrets. Even if he would lose the inheritance rights to the Li family because of this, he would not regret it.

A crisp "Crack!" rang out — a piece of the screen's frame had actually been shattered by Li s.h.i.+yu's iron grip. Baby-face instantly jumped up and rushed over, taking Li s.h.i.+yu's hand in his even as he bemoaned, "Heavens, my points ..." Although this box was theirs by right for the year, anything inside that was destroyed would still needed to be paid for.